ARTSBEAT; Union Files Complaint Against Dance Troupe

By DANIEL J. WAKIN

Published: April 18, 2012

On Monday, a union representing dancers filed a complaint against Dance Theater of Harlem, alleging an unfair labor practice. The union, the American Guild of Musical Artists, charged that Dance Theater of Harlem broke a promise to keep its revised company unionized.

Dance Theater of Harlem, which stopped performing in 2004 for lack of funds, has announced plans to start up again in the fall. The executive director, Laveen Naidu, had long maintained that any revived company would have a union contract, but reneged after announcing its resurrection in December, the guild said in a statement. Mr. Naidu, reached by telephone on Tuesday, said he could not comment because he had not seen the complaint. ''This is crazy, that I'm hearing about it this way,'' he said. ''We haven't even resumed operations. What are they talking about?''
4:33 p.m. | Updated
In a statement later, Mr. Naidu rejected the charge. He said the company and union in 2007 had ''entered into an agreement that formally severed ties.'' He continued, ''Nurturing artists and art-making are central to the Dance Theater of Harlem mission/-we will never compromise either.''

This is a more complete version of the story than the one that appeared in print.